People in positions of power — often called Politically-Exposed Persons (PEPs) — may abuse their entrusted role for their own personal gain, feeding grand corruption. Banks provide one of the stopping places for these ill-gotten monies. Until now, financial institutions and their regulatory authorities have failed to prevent them from being a safe place for the corrupt. Now is the time to close this loophole.
Topic:
Corruption, Crime, International Trade and Finance, and Reform
Most international standards and law enforcement agencies focus their efforts on fighting money laundering by banks and financial institutions. However, several non-financial sectors, such as real estate and luxury goods, are extremely vulnerable to illicit financial flows. Now is the time to clean up the sector and close this loophole for the corrupt.
Topic:
Corruption, Crime, International Trade and Finance, and Reform
For some people national borders constitute an insurmountable barrier. For others, they represent a comfortable way to hide ill-gotten wealth and to escape accountability for their actions. Now is the time to close the legal loopholes that allow corrupt individuals to elude justice for themselves and their money.
Shedding light on who benefits from companies is a key defence for stopping corruption. Such information helps to prevent a safe haven to hide the proceeds of corruption and aids in revealing the money trail behind it.
Gender inequality and corruption are closely inter-linked. Gender inequalities undermine good governance, sustainable growth, development outcomes and poverty alleviation. Where countries have made advances in women's empowerment and gender equality, they have witnessed lower levels of corruption over time.
Schools and teaching are essential tools in the fight against corruption. A quality education has the power to strengthen personal integrity, raise awareness of rights and responsibilities, reduce social inequality and break the chain of corruption.
Education is a fundamental human right. All around the globe it is seen as the key to a better future, life with dignity and a sustainable livelihood. Funding is critical to ensure that education achieves these ends. But resources are not sufficient alone. Corruption and mismanagement can squander funds before schools ever see them. A series of integrated mechanisms is needed to stop these losses before they start.
The global demand for education has significantly boosted the economic attractiveness of getting into the higher education business. Many new providers in all shapes and sizes have sprung up in recent years, creating quality control challenges regarding their operations. External evaluations and independent assessments offer students and society one of the most effective ways to size up these newly established institutions and to combat any corrupt practices that they may employ in their operations.
Topic:
Corruption, Economics, Education, and Privatization
Universal primary education is one of the eight pledges of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that are set to be met by 2015. Since the goals have been adopted, corruption and governance deficits have undermined their achievement. In the case of education, progress has been mixed and there are wide disparities among groups. The number of students staying in the education system through primary school has reached 90 per cent. Yet, enrollment rates have seen a declining trend, and poor governance and corruption have been pointed to as among the culprits.
Topic:
Corruption, Development, Education, and Governance
Aid flows provide developing countries with an important source of financing that can be used to help build schools, staff hospitals, construct roads and provide clean water. In 2010, aid totalled more than US$ 128 billion, one-fifth of which went to Africa.Yet aid, also known as official development assistance (ODA), has not always been effective at achieving results with the inputs provided. Corruption and mismanagement result from low levels of transparency, accountability and integrity by donor and partner countries.
Topic:
Corruption, Development, Humanitarian Aid, Foreign Aid, and Governance